Europe’s Croatia is top spot for film tourism

Croatia will soon become the most desirable destination for film tourism. Several blockbuster films are choosing the eastern Mediterranean destination as a backdrop – including the next James Bond movie and the Mamma Mia sequel.

To make it more feasible, the government has also implemented favourable tax policies to enable film companies to produce in the country.

British TV series, Game of Thrones, has a very crucial part to play in making tourist attract to the country because major part of the show is filmed in Croatia.

Among the 16.6 million visitors from Europe to Croatia, last year were ‘Throners’ – die-hard fans of the cult TV series, keen to see where the epic show was filmed. Such is the success that Game of Thrones-themed guided tours have sprung up in tourist hotspots such as Dubrovnik, which is the setting for King’s Landing and Blackwater Bay.

Ivona Grgan, director of The Croatian National Tourist Office, said, “For decades, discerning holidaymakers have discovered the beauty of Croatia and what it has to offer.Now, thanks to a huge surge in demand among the makers of blockbuster movies and unmissable TV dramas, our wonderful country has been projected into the cinemas, TV screens and mobile devices of a whole new audience.”

Such is Croatia’s popularity among film-makers, the destination has usurped Greece as the setting for the second Mamma Mia movie. Filming of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again – starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters and Amanda Seyfried – started in autumn 2017 on the Croatian island of Vis, one of the farthest inhabited islands in the country.

Meanwhile, James Bond’s next top-secret mission has been revealed. Actor Daniel Craig is heading to Croatia next year to film the 25th Bond movie, with a working title of Shatterhand.

WTM London, Senior Director, Simon Press said the fact that Hollywood is now regularly using Croatia as a film location, gives the country the opportunity to be seen and experienced by a whole new generation which also benefits the tourism industry as well.